The Battle for Saint Marcus Cathedral; 40k Apocalypse Game

the table is set.

Saturday was my day off, and we decided to do a massive apocalypse game. We wanted a fun, I don't care what happens. type of game. My buddies also wanted to use alot of their models so we decided on 3000 points a person. Unfortunately one of them had to work, so it was on me to play 4000 points of Crimson Fists and 2000 points of "Green" Templars! So with some story writing during the week at work, we were set for an epic battle!

Prep:

If you have ever played apocalypse 40k, you know it requires some prep work. An all day of gaming also requires some prep work. Our work was cut out for us to pull this off with only a week to prep. Add in work problems for most of us and the monkey wrench was thrown.

As we were playing at my house, it was on me to provide some snacks. My wife made an awesome cheesy meat dip and little BBQ smokies. Chips and beer round it out. The guys brought some snacks of their own and it was on.

During the week I received a couple new terrain kits. These came in time for me to get them assembled and ready for use. A couple card tables, and adding the extra 2 by 4 board section to the table, and we were ready to go there.

The night before, I had to rewrite my list as one of the guys had to work, and would not be coming. This meant it would be Blake and Brian vs me, and I would be playing 6000 points as I have the largest collection of models. Reworking my Fists into a 4000 point first and fourth company task force. Add one storm raven (using BA rules) that I only get to play during apocalypse as allies, and using my green marines as Green Templar's and I was done.

The Story:

Lately my focus in gaming has been more on a narrative style and less tournament play. With a huge game of anything goes 40k coming up, I wanted, nay I relished the chance to think up some background for the battle ahead.

First problem we had was we all played Imperial forces. Blake has Imperial Guard. Brian plays  Emerald Fist marines, and I have crimson fists, green generic marines, and Sister's of Battle. I also ave a bunch of Inquisitors and henchmen from my days of Witchhunter codex. Ding!!! Their was my "hook" for our battle.

The "hook" or reason the two opposing forces were fighting was going to be simple, because the Emperor of man commands it! Or because his servants in charge command it is more like it. So you take 2 Inquisitors from different ordos, and they both think the other is a traitor. Perfect!




Malleus Inquisitor Duysen and henchmen.




Hereticus Inquisitor Dunn and henchmen.


Ok, so give them some rules from the GK codex, add a 4++ and eternal warrior to make them larger than life. A couple strategic tactics for them and they were fleshed out. We also made them worth 2 objectives if they were dead. As the saying goes, the victors write the history. This also meant the dead Inquisitor would be the traitor, and our story would write itself.

So a battle of gray with no true black and white sides was set.

The Board:

For the table, we had to make due with the current terrain selection. My table is brand new (only 2 battles have been fought on it) and my terrain collection is small but growing. The Cathedral and a couple of buildings from Pegasus Hobbies arrived the week before, and I thought they should play a big role in the battle.

We set up the "city" with the cathedral at the center. The left hand building were the true ruins and the right side represented the untouched middle of the city. The three on the right are new and I have not had time to base, paint, or roof them yet. We played the intact buildings as ruins with some exceptions. They were only difficult terrain going threw windows. Inside the build was still clear. Moving threw doors was not difficult. Assaulting threw doors was.

The left side of the board represented the mountainous forest area. I want to expand this set as I think it is cool. Maybe a frozen pond, and some more steep hills and features.

Both sides deployed and the IG revealed the mine fields they had laid! Funny thing is my forces had prepared for ruins and had Reconed the area, allowing rerolls of all difficult and dangerous terrain tests all game. Already our game was epic!

As I'm not writing a battle report, I will not bore you with all the details of the epic battle. It ebbed and flowed with each side gaining the advantage every turn all the way to a final turn 7!! It was an awesome 10 hours of hanging out and rolling dice. Tons of stuff died and awesome stories were written. Neither Inquisitor died and cries of both being a traitor will lead to new battles and stories. I see even our small games having an impact on this story in the future.

I leave you with shots of our game. It was a blast and a good way to enjoy a day off. I also challenge you to add little stories to your games. They add so much, and are a great part of the hobby!